Document processing facilities often use high speed document processing machines such as sorters, to sort and direct mail items appropriately to one or more mail bins for distribution. Various types or stages of processing may occur during sorting of the mail items as they are transported at high speeds along a transport path of the sorter via a system of mechanized pulleys, levers and rollers. Such processes may include, but are not limited to imaging of each mail item at various moments of transport, interpretation of address components (e.g., recipient addresses, ZIP codes, barcodes) based on the image as marked upon the mail items for enabling association of each mail item with a sort scheme, printing upon the mail item, application of labels, opening or cutting of the mail item, etc. Generally, these processes are coordinated by one or more computers operating in connection with the sorter. In a multi-sorter environment, where a mailing is distributed for processing amongst multiple sorters, a server may act as a central administrator of sorter activity—i.e., facilitating data exchange, managing job scheduling and processing, coordinating sort schemes amongst sorter devices, etc.
The common goal of any sort operation is to arrange a plurality of disparate mail items provided as input to the sorter into one or more bins in accord with postal authority standards. Generally, the postal grouping to which a mail item belongs and hence the sort bin to which it is ultimately directed to within the sorter, is based on the delivery point identifiers indicated upon the mail item. This may include things such as the ZIP Code designation, address data, etc. Other factors regarding the mail item, such as weight class or postage application may further affect how it is classified by the postal authority and hence delivered via the postal network. Regardless of classification, however, a single postal grouping and hence sort bin may include mail items possessing a plurality of delivery point identifiers or only one (e.g., one or more ZIP Code designations). Sort processing of disparate mail items into sort bins containing mail items having common postal authority recognized delivery point identifiers leads to increased postal processing and postal authority work sharing discounts. Objectively, it is desired that the sort processing required to yield the maximum work sharing discounts be done with as few passes—i.e., processing cycles—of the mail as possible.
Quite often, mail processing tasks must be distributed across multiple document processing devices, and in some instances, multiple differing mail processing environments entirely. For instance, a mailing may be created and originated by an inserting environment of a customer, but subsequently sort processed for mailing via the postal authority on behalf of that customer by a pre-sort bureau or other sort processing vendor. Alternatively, differing sort processing environments may share or co-mingle their mailings in an effort to produce maximum work sharing discount incentives for the participating parties. So, for example, a first sort processing environment may provide mail having certain delivery point identifiers upon it that increase the mail volume of a second sort processing environment, enabling the second sort processing environment to generate greater discounts, and vice versa.
Current sorting operations delay the final sweeping of bins until the last mail item has been processed, since there is no way to determine for a given sort bin on a sorter, whether the bin has received all of the mail items that will be sorted to that bin. This results in delay in starting the next processing run until all mail items from a previous run have been removed from the sorter. The sweeping accuracy is also impacted since the operator must complete the final sweep of the bins as fast as possible. Consequently, shipping dock efficiency within the document processing facility is also affected since less of the mail items necessary to complete a pallet for shipment arrive at the dock early. This forces the document processing facility to operate in a sequential manner that inhibits maximum use of its time and resources.
Therefore there exists a need for an improved system and method for alerting document processing operators when all mail items have reached a particular bin in order to improve accuracy and efficiency during document processing, as well as the overall efficiency of the document processing facility.